Joe Augustus Lomax, Jr., 84, Houston TX passed away after a battle with colon cancer at the home he shared with his wife Barbara on the 12th of October 2021. He was the second of three sons born to Joe A. "Big Gus" Lomax, Sr. and Ben Theresa Crawford in Houston Mississippi, December 22, 1936. As a baby, his mother loved to braid his hair; when people thought he was a girl, she stopped braiding it.

In 1939 at the age of three he, his parents and two brothers moved to Beloit WI.  Gus, Jr. as he was known, attended the Beloit public schools. As a teenager, a young lady caught his eye, he was smitten and in 1954 Emma Jean Sanders became his wife. He and Jean had eight children: Larry, James Vincent, Valerie, Ricky, Jean Anne, Frederick, David and Theresa. Upon her passing on November 22, 2002 they had been married 48 years.

One of his high school teachers was instrumental in securing him a job as a janitor at Yates American Tool and Die in Beloit. He was a quick study and work as a janitor was short-lived, as he was promoted to the position of an assembler. Meanwhile he completed his G.E.D. and when his division at Yates American was sold to Stewart Warner, Gus was one of three or four handpicked to transfer with the division to Indianapolis IN in October 1968. When he arrived in IN, Gus was the foreman of his division at Stewart Warner and received several promotions. Additionally, he attended Indiana University/Purdue University Indianapolis- IUPUI – to complete an associate degree in business. He was employed by Stewart Warner for over 35 years. He moved to Tupelo MS and was briefly employed at Tecumseh Machine.

Gus watched football on television. Growing up in Wisconsin he was a lifelong Green Bay Packers fan. He and his sons would watch the games at their homes and spend hours talking on the telephone about the games after they ended. Although he didn't play sports, he loved to hunt and fish, and he couldn't swim "a lick". One of the family fishing stories is that he and son Vincent went fishing and caught a bunch of croppies – over 100. When they got home Gus made Vincent clean the fish then told him to give them away to a lady down the street. That was the end of Vincent's fishing trips with his dad. Like his older brother George, he watched cowboy movies. He also loved going to the casino to try his luck.

Gus had "a gift of gab and would talk your ear off" if you gave him half a chance. He always liked TX and enjoyed visiting relatives. He, his mother and Jean would make trips to visit family in Galveston and Houston.  In 2010, Gus moved to Houston TX where he met and married Barbara Joyce.

Gus is survived by his wife Barbara, brother Joe Ben (Kathy) Lomax, daughter Theresa Lomax, sons Larry, James Vincent, Ricky and David Lomax, 12 grandchildren, 29 great grandchildren, 5 great-great grandchildren, several nieces and nephews and a host of cousins.  He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Jean, brother George and his wife Tina, son Frederick, daughters Jean Anne Davis and Valerie Lomax, and niece Cecilia Lomax.

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